Title : Literature

The Seventh Man

(Answer Key)
Presented by: Dina Ali

Date: 10 – 9- 2021
 p.133 (1 -3)

What can you tell

about the story’s
setting?
 I know that the story is set during a storm late at night,
sometime past ten o’clock, but none of the details tell me the
actual place where the story is set. I also don’t know the year
in which the story takes place.
p.133
Paragraphs (2- 5)
1- What is the interior story of “The Seventh Man”?
2- What changes between the telling of the frame story and the interior story?
3-Explain why the author may have used such a story structure?
Paragraph (6)
4- What are two facts you know about the seventh man that you would not
know if his story had not been told within another story?
 1- The story of the typhoon is the interior story, beginning with “It happened one September afternoon . . . ”
when the ten-year-old seventh man experienced “everything that mattered most” swept off “to another world.”
 2- Changes are marked by:
• Narrative point of view. The unnamed narrator tells the frame in the third person; but the seventh man tells
the interior story in the first person.
• Setting. The frame story takes place in the present, where the seventh man is at a gathering; but the interior
story is told in the past tense, a flashback of the stormy night.
• Mood. The calm mood of frame story contrasts with the intense mood of seventh man’s story.

 3- The author chose the frame structure because he needed a reason to allow for the seventh man to tell his
story. The frame structure allows the author to transition from the seventh man as an adult to his experiences
as a child, and allows the author to create a sense of mystery.

 4- These two descriptions are revealed in the frame story, and we would not know about them if the frame
story had not been told:
• The seventh man’s age (He is in his 50s.)
• The seventh man’s appearance (He is tall and thin, with a moustache and a scar by his right eye, and short
grayish hair. He wears a blue shirt with a tweed coat, and appears to be nervous.)
Watch the video to answer the following questions.
• Direct characterization,

The personality of the character is revealed directly by a narrator, another character, or

the character himself.

• Indirect characterization

Indirect characterization is the process of describing a character through that

character’s thoughts, actions, speech, and dialogue. An author will use this type of
characterization to guide the reader in making their own conclusions about a
character.

• What is the type of characterization used in paragraph 6?

p.134
Paragraph (8)
1- What does the wave symbolize to the seventh man?
2- What does this paragraph imply?
Paragraph (9)
3- Is paragraph 9 a start of the frame or the interior story?
4- What is the situation at the beginning of the interior story?
Paragraph (10)
4- Who is K?
5- What is the type of characterization used in paragraph 10?
6- What a reader can infer from these descriptions about K’s
character?
 1- To the seventh man, the wave symbolizes the loss of his childhood innocence and
joy.
 2- In the story “The Seventh Man,” the seventh man talks about his guilt for the death
of his friend. He indicates that the power of guilt is universal and “devastating.”
 3- a start of the interior story
 4- K is Seventh Man’s friend. K. is an artistic, sensitive boy who is often bullied
because he is weak and has a speech impediment. Most people think that there is
something wrong with him.
 5- Direct and Indirect characterization
 6- The descriptions explain why K. might need protection. They also explain why the
seventh man likes and admires K. By adding these details, the author gives reasons why
the seventh man makes himself responsible for K.’s safety.
p.135
Paragraph (12)
1- Underline at least four vivid details about the storm.
2-How do these descriptions help you visualize the typhoon?

Paragraphs (15- 17)

3- Why does the seventh man’s father allow him to go outside
during the storm?
 1- -----------------------
 2- I see that the sound of rain beating against the house is compared to handfuls of
sand, and that the creak and shudder of the house are compared with the motion of a
huge hand. Based on these details, I imagine a monster trying to get into the house.
 I can infer from these descriptions that the typhoon is extremely dangerous.
I think that this fierce storm foreshadows—or hints—that something bad is going to
happen in the story.

 3- The seventh man’s father allows him to go outside during the storm because it is
during the eye of the storm and everything is calm.
Pg.136 -137 -138
Paragraph (26)
1- What is a type of figurative language used in this paragraph?
2- How do these descriptions help you visualize the typhoon?

Paragraph (27)
Complete
3- The author uses dashes to -------------------------------------
4- What is the effect of dividing these sentences in this way?

Paragraph (28)
True or False
5- The Seventh Man didn’t help k to get out of the storm. (----)
6- At the beach, why doesn’t K. respond when his friend calls
out to him?
 1- personification, a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human
characteristics
 The author is giving the sea human qualities (stretching out a tongue). Make sure students
understand that the tongue refers to the wave and that the author is comparing the wave to a huge
animal that has a long tongue.
 2- The use of personification creates a mental image that expresses a feeling of danger and terror.
 3- The dashes allow the author to highlight a part of a sentence, to add important descriptive
details, and to help create a mood. The use of dashes in consecutive sentences creates a stop-and-
start pattern that reflects the tense mood: There is hesitation, uncertainty, and fear as the tension
builds.
 4- From his use of dashes, I can conclude that the author is trying to build the drama and tension
in this important scene. The breaks in the sentences are meant to reflect the author’s scattered,
confused, and fearful thinking.
 5- ---------------------------
 6- K. doesn’t respond when the seventh man calls out to him because K. was likely absorbed in
something that interested him, or the seventh man’s voice did not reach him.
Pg.138 - 139
Paragraph (30)
1- What do you notice about the narrator’s thoughts and actions?
What do these details reveal about his character?
Paragraph (30- 31)
2- Describe The Seventh Man‘s conflict in these paragraphs?
Paragraph (34)
3- What was The Seventh Man’s reaction for the second wave ?
Paragraphs (36-37)
4- What did he see underwater? Do you think that these were
hallucinations?
 1- I notice that the narrator’s thoughts and actions don’t match. He knows that he should run over and save his
friend, but fear and the desire to stay alive motivate him to run away.
 From the details that the author provides, I can conclude that the narrator is conflicted. He thinks one thing, but he
does something else.
 2- The story is moving because it describes the seventh man’s deep inner conflict. The seventh man, as a young boy,
wonders whether he could have saved his friend from the big wave. He feels he was self-centered and cowardly. He
saved himself and not his friend.
 3- He didn’t move; he was completely controlled by fear.
 4- Inside the second wave, the seventh man sees K. grinning and reaching out to him.
Pg.139
Paragraph (37)
1- Mark the details that were perceived by the
narrator. What can you infer from these details of the
seventh man’s first – person narrative?

Paragraphs (38 -39)

2- Directly after the accident, how did the seventh
man deal with the shock?
 1- The seventh man realizes that parts of his story might seem unbelievable, but he is
telling the truth as he remembers it. From the details that the author provides, I can
conclude that the narrator is conflicted. He thinks one thing, but he does something
else.
 These details of the seventh man’s narrative demonstrate his determination to be
believed, even though he admits he can hardly believe what he saw. By adding these
details, the author demonstrates that the seventh man is not necessarily a reliable
narrator.
 A first-person narrative might not convey an accurate account of events, but it can
reveal important truths about the narrator.

 2- He falls sick, and suffers neurological damage.

Watch the video to complete the following chart.
Paragraph 41
1- What can you infer from these contradictory attitudes
about who is responsible for K’s death?
Characters K’s parents The Seventh The seventh
man’s man
parents
Reaction

Motive

2- What is the importance of the other characters' attitudes?

 1- K.’s parents don’t blame the seventh man because they know he loved and
protected their son and must therefore believe he would have done everything possible
to save him. The seventh man’s parents don’t hold him responsible because they love
him and therefore believe the best of him. Everyone else is silent on the subject
because they don’t know what happened. The seventh man blames himself because he
believes that he alone knows the truth.
 2- Other characters’ attitudes are important because they create a context within which
readers may judge for themselves. By adding these details, the author shows how other
characters’ attitudes have no effect on the seventh man’s sense of guilt. They may,
however, have an effect on readers’ attitudes.
Paragraph (45)
1- What shift in the story’s time frame is revealed through the use
of verbs?
Paragraph (48 -50)
 2- How does the Seventh man’s childhood experience affect
his life for years?
3- Why did the seventh man decide to visit his home town?
Paragraph (51)
4- What was the seventh man's first step overcoming his
fear?
5- What was the seventh man response to the pictures?
6- What a reader can infer from these details a bout the
narrator’s response to the pictures?
Paragraphs (53-54)
7- What was the mistake that he has finally comprehended ?
 1- The author has switched from past- tense verbs in paragraph 45 to present-tense
verbs in paragraph 46 to show that the time period has changed. The shift in the story’s
time frame is from childhood to adulthood. In paragraph 45, the narrator is describing
the past—a period in his childhood. In paragraph 46, the narrator is speaking in the
present—he is an adult at this point.
 2- After the tragedy of losing K., the seventh man, then a child, becomes consumed
with guilt. He moves away from his hometown and family and is no longer the carefree
child he once was. His struggles continue into his adulthood. He never marries and is
plagued by occasional nightmares. He stays away from his hometown for more than
forty years because he can’t face the scene of his friend’s death.
 3- He returns only after finding K.’s drawings in an old box. Even though he hesitates
at first to look at them
 4- He decides to look at K’s paintings.
 5- The author is reminded of landscapes and scenes from childhood and of how skilled
K. was at portraying them. He remembers so vividly the times they shared that he
realizes that he is seeing everything through K.’s eyes.
 6- This insight might free the seventh man from the guilt that has constrained him his
entire life. Perhaps he will be able to lead a normal life, interact with people more fully,
and finally be happy.
 7- He realizes that K was sensitive, and his last look wasn’t out of hatred.
Paragraph (58-59)
Complete
1- The author uses details that suggests harshness or
hardness when -----------------------------------and details that
suggest softness and calm
when---------------------------------------------------
2- Why does the author use these particular details in this
way?
3- What change in the narrator’s perspective is revealed in
this paragraph?

4- The figurative language that the author used to express

the narrator’s feeling in paragraph 62
is---------------------------to --------------------------------------
 1- The author uses details that suggest harshness or hardness when describing the
narrator’s childhood hometown and details that suggest softness and calm when
describing the seascape
 2- to set up a contrast between what the narrator expected to find in each place and what
the reality was
 3- The town in which the narrator grew up has changed—it is no longer small and quiet.
And the seascape, which the narrator thought might be a source of anxiety, is calming.
The contrasts cause the narrator to question things: If his perspective of the places could
change, then perhaps his perspective of K.’s death could change, too. And that might
allow him to overcome his guilt and get on with his life.
 4- These words and phrases provide an analogy to help the reader better understand what
is happening to the narrator physically. The narrator physically collapses into the water
just as the fears and guilt that have built up inside him collapse “like a dilapidated
house.” The narrator has undergone a change and is confronting fear. He is no longer
afraid, and I can infer that he is no longer going to live a life ruled by fear and guilt.
What Is an Analogy?
An analogy is something that shows how two things
are alike.
The purpose of an analogy is not merely to show, but
also to explain.
“What you’re doing is as useful as rearranging
deck chairs on the Titanic.”

Paragraph (64)
1- What does the narrator think is more frightening than fear
itself ?
 1- Ignoring your fear will destroy your life. You must face your fear in order to
overcome it.
 I agree, because if the seventh man hadn’t ignored his fear, he could have forgiven
himself much earlier and lived a happier life.